Minutes before McCann started their set in NHC Music I was
frantically looking for the numbers of either MacGyver or Mr T as their
expertise in making something from nothing would have been helpful.

Due to a mix up in communication the band were semi electric
rather than full on acoustic and the set up in-store doesn't accommodate that.

Someone, anyone, appearing with a soldering iron, a kettle
plug and a degree in electrical engineering would have been a godsend at that
moment, but it wasn't to be.

However as I muttered under my breath repeatedly that the
show must go on the gods of rock and roll must have heard me and nudged the
band to very graciously say ‘don’t worry about it’ before they then proceeded
to give everyone an example of a master class in how to entertain.

To say that they were well received would be an exercise in
stating the obvious.

There was no slow introduction as the band deal in delivering
a jolt of the good stuff straight to you.

Even with the full flow of them being partially contained by
operating without a large PA backing them up the power they put out would be
enough to light up a small town.

Give them the full works and they could generate enough to
make a wind farm owner blush.

Steeped in decades of appreciation of good music they are the
sonic alchemists who are taking multiple strands of influences and moulding
them to their own will before then weaving those golden threads into an
impressive tapestry of their very own.

If you are a music lover, and have a large collection of
releases covering multiple genres, then imagine someone taking them all and
melting them down to ultimately press an album that sounds like an over arching
representation of everything you love.

That’s what McCann sound like.

Well they do to me.

Sprinkled through the set of originals were some crowd
pleasing covers from the Clash, Icicle Works, Depeche Mode and The Cult.

All played with passion and tailored to the bands sound
rather than being note by note facsimiles of the originals.

This allowed everything to flow rapidly from the start of
the set to the rapturous end without the quality levels rising and falling as
can occasionally happen.

Especially when a band throw in a well played classic and expect
it to sit comfortably with their own lesser known material.

This is the second time I have seen the band perform since
they reformed and both sets played, while different, have been a gig goer’s wet
dream.

So keep your ears to the ground as they are on of the
current crop of not to be missed bands that are doing the rounds.

Maybe this time around they will reap the benefits they so
richly deserve.

Monday, 23 February 2015

A few nights ago I had the distinct pleasure of being invited along to a special secret show by some very talented people.
The idea was to create a multi media performance that covered original artwork, film making, poetry and music.
The performance was recorded and filmed and maybe the footage and recordings will see the light of day.
Or I should say hopefully they are a quality that they can maybe see the light of day.

The reason I say hopefully is that while the majority attending were fully aware of what was on offer, and were happy to participate as witnesses to it, there was one person who seemed to have failed to read the memo.

In his head he was at a gig.
A gig that should be tailored to his tastes.

At random moments he would shout out names of songs that were irrelevant to he performance.
At others times he would make noises.
I am sure he was trying to communicate something, but what it was failed to travel from mind to tongue in any understandable way.

It was rather sad to watch this grown man so disconnected from the moment.
To emphatically fail to appreciate that he was giving nothing to the performance, but instead was taking a great deal away from it.

On the plus side I got to write a short poem about the experience.

I've called it 'I liked your old stuff.'

There was once a man who lived for a moment in time
Every moment lived prior to it was in preparation
Every moment after was lived in remembrance
He lived in the moment, but it was only one moment
And in living in it he eschewed all other moments
So beware the moment in time
Never be drawn by the siren song of the moment
Living on a rock in a moment in time is no place to be.

As Dan Reed worked his way through his set in Glasgow you could tell
that there is something special about the man.

Here was someone who had commanded stadium stages, played
with the likes of The Rolling Stones, won awards and sold albums wherever he
went, and then stepped away from it all as he didn't feel fulfilled by the life
he found himself living.

Then he carved out a very successful business as a club
owner before ultimately coming to the conclusion that what he was looking for
was something more spiritually rewarding.

So he simply walked away from the day to day running of that
to.

A year in Tibet
living in a monastery followed, then some time in India,
before settling in Jerusalem
for a period prior to then returning to the western world naturally reinvented/rejuvenated
by his experiences.

And now in the present you can see and hear the culmination
of his experiences in everything he does.

There’s calmness and a positive vibe that spreads outwards
from him and warmly embraces those attending the show hosted by ‘Events for
Charities.’

It is actually difficult to convey to a reader what the
experience was like as words often fail to describe an emotional state of
being.

We can dip into a thesaurus, stretch our own vocabulary to
its limit and yet still fall far short of being able to effectively describe a
feeling.

He makes you think, re-evaluate your own life even, feel
something, and he can do that without preaching or being overtly obvious about
it.

There was no specific religious message pushed and instead he
just engages.

Personal anecdotes were shared alongside personal thanks to
individuals and dedications to those he had met on previous visits to the city.

Together they allowed a connection to be made.

And for those who have not experienced a Dan Reed
performance over the last few years it may be difficult to understand how powerfully
attractive and evocative the communal event is in reality.

There’s a great sense of people coming together in a way
that religion often is falling to deliver in the modern age.

Everyone is inclusively welcomed and the barriers are down.

How often as music lovers do we go to a show and leave not
just feeling entertained, but also feeling better about themselves and others
in the world?

The answer is not very often.

So the ability to do that has to be applauded, maybe even
cherished as it is so unique.

In fact right now it has just hit me.

What Dan is promoting by example is hope.

That’s where the attraction lies.

He is showing us an internal path that we can walk down if
we so choose.

A path that will take us to a better place and in how he
carries himself he also highlights that it is achievable.

We can all be Dan Reed if we want to be, but there is maybe
the crux of a problem.

Do we want to be?

Maybe many of us just aren't there yet, but that’s okay as
it doesn't mean we can’t start making moves to improve as people in general,
and who could argue that we as humans haven’t got very many areas we could make
improvements in.

But as long as we set foot on the path it probably doesn't
matter where we are on it as long as the intent to move forward is there.

For myself I will happily admit that on the way home after
the show the world looked slightly different, slightly better, and there is
power in being able to change perceptions of our surroundings like that.

A great deal of power, but thankfully Dan is using it for
the greater good.

Is he charismatic? He most definitely is.

Is he talented? Without a shadow of a doubt he is.

But that’s not the appeal.

He’s human and striving to be the best person he can be, and
therein lays the magic I suppose.

Best show of the year?

Time will tell, but right now it is the one that holds a great
deal of transforming power to it.

Sunday, 22 February 2015

Hovering at a point where they are entertaining people with
a fifty-fifty set of originals and covers they are certainly touching all the
bases, but it is equally obvious that they are also pressing hard on the
tipping point as their self penned songs are starting to muscle the much loved
classics to the side in the set.

Covers of early Antz and Clash tracks may well have people
singing along, but the songs that are about to surface on their debut ep are
the real attention grabbers.

Live the four piece power though their set and it’s damn exhilarating
to watch them take the year zero punk template and give it a reboot so that it
is ready for the twenty first century.

Very often there’s an inordinate amount of attention paid to
youth in the music business, but experience trumps it time and time again.

You only have to give a couple of minutes of attention to
The Sux Pastels to appreciate that.

They have all been there and bought the t-shirt, and while
some very talented young musicians are out there doing a great job of emulating
their heroes there is a certain something that the peer group of the greats has
that can’t be grasped.

Maybe it’s a fundamental and organic understanding of the
roots of the punk ethos that seeps into everything they do.

Regardless of what it is it sounds authentic and evergreen.

If the term punk rock conjures up an image in your head of
well crafted songs that have attitude, swagger and aren’t afraid to challenge
the listener then The Sux Pastels are for you.

Party Asylum are once again taking things to another level.

With each show they play you can literally see that a fan
base is building.

Slowly and assuredly they are making converts and it is obvious
why.

It is simply that they are becoming ever increasingly a
better act.

We are seeing and hearing evolution in progress here.

There’s still a garage rock element to their set, and the Ramones
ramalama that was inspired by Phil Spector is still there, but everything is
tighter, more vibrant, more self assured and more, more, well just more really.

There’s a point in a bands career where they go from being considered
a good club band to taking on the mantle of just being a good band, and that’s
where Party Asylum are now.

They may still be playing clubs, but they are no longer
defined by the venues they play.

Take them out of a small club right now and place them on a
big stage and they will command it.

You only have to look at the calibre of the support slots
they are tucking under the belts to appreciate that the hard work they are
putting in is starting to deliver rewards.

And justifiably so.

Go and see them and enjoy your favourite band of tomorrow
today.

The horror punk/rockabilly sound isn’t one that has been
widely picked up on in Scotland.

While we do have a few excellent bands ploughing that
particular field it is basically true that the fans of the bass being slapped
and b-movie lyrics have often had to get their kicks from touring acts who are
willing to take a chance and venture north of the border.

So all hail The Bloodstrings, who were making their debut in
Glasgow.

It has been a while since I had a fix of this particular
genre so it was a very pleasurable experience to get the opportunity to get reacquainted
with it.

From the beginning they put their foot down and played a set
that rarely had a foot near the brake.

You want it hard and fast? Then this was it.

At points Doc Nics hand was blur on the double bass and the
guitar licks were an inspired mix of heavy rock and rock and roll.

Just what the doctor ordered, two great supports and then
the icing on the cake.

Surprisingly enough the audience was not made up of the
usual psychobilly suspects, and instead a very mixed group of music fans, but
not playing to what would be a traditional didn’t seem to matter at all as both
the band and audience were operating a mutual respect deal.

The band came to rock, the audience came to be rocked and
everyone went home happy.

This ability to entertain out with the genre that they exist
in is something that has to be credited.

It draws attention to the crossover appeal that they have
and on the cover of the Sonny Bono penned Bang Bang they just hammer home that
they have a broader appeal than some of their peers.

Quality entertainment and you should keep an eye out for the
bands return.

Friday, 20 February 2015

Once again the quality of the rock scene in Scotland has to
be commented on in glowing terms.

While the mainstream popularity of the genre has waned to a
certain extent over the years the actual rewards to be found by delving into
the treasure trove of talent out there is rich indeed.

From the hardcore end of the spectrum to the more melodic
there are diamonds glittering in the rough everywhere.

And that’s what the King Lots début is.

A bona fide sparkling diamond in the rough

There’s a very obvious GUN influence in their sound and in
many ways they have picked up the baton from the Rankin led period of that
bands career, but it would be disingenuous to leave that reference hanging
there alone as throughout they sprinkle a great deal of their own talent over everything.

From delicate ballads to more in your face rockers the trio
are self assuredly covering the bases.

And that’s one hundred percent of all the bases.

They could have called the album ‘whatever you want, we got
it’ and left it at that and felt no shame in being so upfront about making such
a grand promise.

Best of all is that live they can deliver to.

There’s no disconnect between studio and stage.

While some bands can capture a sound live, but fail to
transfer it across to the confines of the studio, or vice versa, The King Lot
are firing on all cylinders no matter where you come across them.

Once again this release highlights that being in the right
place at the right time is important, as without a doubt if this landed when
rock as a genre was at a peak commercially then they would be responsible for a
platinum selling album and jetting all over the world to promote it.

But that’s not to say it won’t happen as while the mainstream
is currently resolutely failing to engage with rock music it increasingly feels
like they are the Dutch boy with a finger in the dyke.

The pressure from the bands and fans alike is mounting and
surely it can’t be long under the barrier is washed away under a mighty tsunami
sized wave of rock and roll goodness.

If it does then watch out for the King Lots as they will be
right at the front of it all screaming ‘look how fuckin’ good we are’.

Monday, 16 February 2015

A few nights ago I was bemoaning the fact that there’s barely
anything that the mainstream is peddling that has any real vibrancy.

It’s as if the surface noise has to be stripped clean of any
passion and all that is deemed acceptable for mass consumption has to be filed
under B for bland.

Even when they try to dress the latest hit up in outrage we
can all see the seams.

It’s all just so transparently boring.

And yet lurking just slightly out of view there is a never
ending stream of outrageously talented individual writing and performing material
that really should be gaining far more attention than it does.

It’s as if the music Business (lower case m and capital B)
flipped everything on its head and the acts that would have struggled to get a
deal a few decades ago are now on top with the real talent is hanging on the
bottom rung wondering what the fuck happened.

For example here we have Scarlets newly out the gate with a
three track ep that in years gone past would have started off a bidding war between
major labels.

A&R men would have been stripped to the waist and
trading punches out of the back for the chance for an audience with the band.

Promises would be made, stardom offered and a limo would be
on speed dial for them.

It really is that good.

On the opening track ‘Waiting for the Birds’ they lay down
some stomping glam infused rock that sits comfortably astride the
Levellers-esque sounding violin.

If the devil went down to Georgia then he would have been
handed his arse in a basket.

Insurance companies are going to have to add some more small
print to venue policies stating that roofs being blown off will be considered
an act of God or maybe due to a performance by Scarlets, but regardless they
aint paying out.

Then in an obvious attempt to show the breadth of what they
can do the band take it down a few notches and dip their toes into the power ballad
pool.

The word play, the vocal performance, strings and guitar
solo in this would weaken the knees.

It’s literally faultless and while I have no doubt that the
band can do it justice without Christie live it has to be said that when they
share a mic on this you will be treated to an experience that will immediately crash
in on the your top ten gig highlights ever.

Finishing on a high literally as the track is called ‘High’
they channel all their love for rockin’ power pop into a song that evokes the best
of the eighties without sounding dated in any way at all.

Well crafted from start to finish this ep screams that you
aint seen nothing yet.

Sunday, 15 February 2015

From the moment we draw our first breath we exist to be the central character of a tale that features a cast of tens of thousands over a lifetime.

Some of our stories are rich and vibrant; others are mundane and rather repetitive.

Some are of course beautifully elegant, and then there are sadly those that are brutally ugly.

In many ways we don’t even appear to have much control of our stories either, and rather just seem to be swept along trying to use a rudder to partially steer in a preferred direction.

Sometimes though, within our stories, paths will cross and sparks will fly and last night those who took the chance and wandered along to NHC music enjoyed that specific moment as our own stories collided with that of John Strachan as we made a guest appearance in his tale.

Obviously John himself has already put a few chapters of his life into the rear view mirror.

One just recently closed - for now - covers his time as the front man for the much lauded Jiezuberband.

That in itself is actually less of a chapter and probably a story that deserves its own book.

From striding across festival stages to escaping the clutches of a Walter Mitty type con man it could probably be expanded into a ‘can’t put it down’ best-seller, but only time will tell if that happens.

Meanwhile our crossover appearance is all about John looking to take a tentative step back into performing solo with a set that was largely made up of material that hasn't been publicly aired before.

Initially he stuck to the tried and tested template of sticking to a set list that featured the songs that he was comfortable in sharing, but it was a sublime pleasure to watch him incrementally become more at ease and then stray away from it and embrace the idea of just throwing caution to the wind and seeing how receptive the audience were to some of the ideas he is working on.

As he said himself while introducing another new song ‘this is only about 98% finished, but we will see how it goes’ and then he augmented the set with some older songs that he admitted that he may struggle to remember.

A brave move, but a welcomed one as it was within the comfort zone of letting the set find its own path that we were all able to take the performance to the level of one that was no longer crippled with the invisible barrier between artist and audience.

Banter flowed back and forth, people were encouraged to participate with a couple of tambourines that were handed around and the experience became more akin to an house show party rather than that of the usual venue gig.

As a songwriter John certainly has a great deal to say and covers a great deal of ground in doing so.

From intimate and personal love songs to those with a protest message he put a great deal of thought into what he is looking to convey and then passionately sets his stall out as he performs the material.

Whether the roots of the lyrics are bedded in the works of Orwell, the current news or personal relationship experiences the quality bar is set high and while some of the songs are currently recorded at a demo level it’s going to be interesting to hear them fleshed out and in their full glory.

Personal highlight of the set was the reconstruction of The Creedence classic ‘Bad Moon Rising’ that was stripped down and rebuilt as an austerity dustbowl anthem that was more Woody Guthrie than John Fogerty.

It would be fair to say that John’s interpretation of it breathed a great deal of life into the lyrics and in some ways emulated how a few artists recently took the Springsteen ‘Born in the USA’ album and by removing the bluster shone a brighter light on the lyrics and made them bluntly and uncompromisingly obvious and left no room for misinterpretation.

Hopefully John will look to return to NHC music sooner rather than later as it’s an honour to be part of his story.

Wednesday, 4 February 2015

Apparently when one load of misguided lunatics sends a message to the world by killing someone the best response that we can come up with is.............................killing either one of them in return, or as many of them as possible.
Brilliant!
So far this hasn't really provided a positive result ever, except of course in the short term and in how it can sometimes lead to some pockets being lined, but who cares eh?
It's tried and tested and a mutually beneficial end result can't be expected all the time.

This may be the shortest blog update I have ever written, but what else can really be said?

The four horsemen of lunacy are abroad.
Ego, Religion, Ignorance and Greed